ESRL Global Systems Division

NOAA's Newest Computer Room

Construction is just wrapping up on NOAA's newest
computer room which is housed at the David Skaggs Research Center in
Boulder, CO. This computer center is managed by ESRL's Global Systems
Division, and was built to handle the rigorous environmental and
electrical demands of a new NOAA Research & Development high
performance computer to be provided under a recently awarded contract
with Raytheon Information Systems. This 2,060 square foot facility was
built by St. Andrews Construction under a contract with the General
Services Administration.

As NOAA began the process of a consolidated procurement
for the next generation research and development supercomputer, the need
for additional data center facilities became apparent. ESRL was
approaching maximum capacity within its existing high-performance
computer facilities, and in collaboration with NOAA's High Performance
Computing and Communications Office, was exploring expansion of
current resources which resulted in the construction of this new data
center.

This new computer room allows NOAA to have continuous
high-performance computing capability on existing legacy systems while
upgrading to a more capable system. Modern data processing equipment
requires more power and cooling within a robust environment, and this
new NOAA data center addresses these issues very well.

The new facility is designed with a
state-of-the-art ambient air cooling system provided by above and
below floor cooling fans (see photos).
This system is integrated into two rows of computer racks which create
a single cold aisle. The room is also equipped with a state-of-the-art
clean agent fire protection system and numerous sophisticated facility
environment monitoring and control safe-guards. All of these features
add up to a data center facility that is both highly reliable and
resilient, to accommodate NOAA's high performance computing needs now
and in the future. It will also enhance NOAA's ability to facilitate the
efficient and timely delivery of products and services.